. >>> nine days until the election and only a hurricane could slow down a presidential campaign. both president obama and mitt romney had to cancel events because of hurricane sandy. as cbs reporter drew levinson, the candidates were forced to the campaign aafrom sandy's path. >>> president obama met with the emergency management team for an update on hurricane sandy. >> this is a serious and big storm. >> the president said fema will be ready to help wherever sandy hits. >> we're going to cut through red tape. we want to make sure we're anticipating. >> this is supposed to be a week of intense campaigning. the massive storm forced the president to alter his schedule. to beat the weather, he made stopings to florida and northern ohio. mitt romney also cancelled his virginia stops and rerouted himself to ohio, where he joined running mate paul ryan. >> today, when we get home, put into the prayers the people in the east coast in the wake of the big storm that's coming. >> let's not forget the fellow americans of ours. at a second rally in finley, romney talked about the storm. >>